Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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January 19, 2008

Thaksin Allies Unveil Coalition Government with Large Majority in Thai
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Parliament
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1AF973A:A6F02AD83191E1601F9ABCD0561CC72F7F0EB4B66EA3A89D& Move is another
blow for military, others working to keep exiled former leader out of
Thailand's political scene Backers of ousted Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra have unveiled a coalition government with a large
majority in the Thai parliament - another blow for the military and
other opponents who have been working to keep the exiled former leader
out of Thailand's political scene. VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from
Bangkok.

The People Power Party announced the formation of its six-party
coalition government Saturday, a day after Thailand's Supreme Court
threw out attempts by the PPP's opponents to disband the party and
annul the results of recent parliamentary elections.







Former Thailand PM Thaksin Shinawatra listens to reporters questions
during a press conference in Hong Kong, 25 Dec 2007 The PPP is made up
primarily of supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra,
who was deposed in a military coup in September 2006. His opponents
had accused the PPP in court of committing election fraud by seeking,
in effect, to re-elect Mr. Thaksin by proxy.

The PPP won the largest number of votes in the December elections, but
came just short of the majority of seats it needed to form a
government.

On Saturday, the party's leader, Samak Sundaravej, who is likely to be
the new prime minister, announced that a comfortable majority has been
achieved through a coalition with five other parties.

"Altogether, six parties, it's 315 seats. Three hundred fifteen out of
480, so this is enough," he said.

The numbers mean that, short of staging another coup, the generals who
ousted Mr. Thaksin 16 months ago have failed in their attempt to
eliminate his influence on Thai politics.

In addition to the lawsuits that were thrown out Friday, Mr. Thaksin's
opponents have filed corruption charges against him and his wife,
threatened him with arrest if he returns from abroad, and banned him
from politics.

Mr. Thaksin is in Hong Kong, where he has been monitoring events at
home. His wife returned to Bangkok earlier this month to face fraud
charges.





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width=210 vspace=2 border=0>

Leader of Thailand 's People's Power Party, Samak Sundaravej, leaves
after press conference in Bangkok, 19 Jan 2008Mr. Samak and other PPP
officials have said they want to bring Mr. Thaksin back from exile and
exonerate him of the corruption charges he faces. Mr. Thaksin says he
hopes to return around April, but says he will not formally enter
politics again.

Mr. Samak says he expects the new government to be in place within two
weeks, once a prime minister has been formally selected and a cabinet
is given final approval by the king.

Opponents of Mr. Thaksin include the urban and upper middle classes,
who are critical of the corruption that was common during his
administration. They also accuse him of disrespecting the revered Thai
king.

But despite huge economic growth in the last generation, much of
Thailand's population still lives in poverty. It is among the poor
that Mr. Thaksin draws his support, thanks to his populist policies.


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